My brain shut down today.  This week has been more than it can take.  The final straw was my bike.

The other day I had to walk home again UP a hill with the dang bike.  I've been doing this for about 5 weeks and I've been mad that I can't go more than a mile or two and have to come back.  I had grand visions of riding a dirt bike through the back roads for miles at a time at full speed.  I was going to take on the highways with ease and today just made me realize I SUCK.  Don't try and make me feel better, either.  The truth is there.  I have accepted it.

I got my dirt bike out to change the tires out to the original ones.  I got the first tire off and put the old one back on. You can get a tire off/on the rims fairly easy w/o using a tool if you know how (thank you YouTube).  I undid the back tire via a YouTube video and after getting it changed went to put it back on.  I spent 10 minutes trying to get it figured out and finally started sobbing because I couldn't.  I'd pinched my thumb on the chain, my hands were completely black and I was seconds from tossing the entire dirt bike out in the highway to get ran over by a semi truck when my son came upstairs to see why I was crying.

He said, "Mom, I got this.  Go to the kitchen and clean up your hands. It will be okay".

That had my crying even harder.  Through the crying I told him, "I (sniff) want to (sniff) do it (sniff) myself".

"I know Mom, but go clean your hands.  I'll fix it", as he walked me into the kitchen.

He got the tire on, took it for a spin and said he'd fixed it.  "Mom!  Come on, get on your bike!  It's fixed".

I got on and started riding.  I felt a little better and then I realized somehow my son had fixed the shifting.  It didn't clang and make clicking noises going through the gears.  It shifted between gears 1,2,3 with ease.  It always gets caught on gear 2 nearly stopping me in my tracks.  It had been looked at several times by two different shops who said it was me not shifting right.  I went around the block a couple of more times and then it started downpouring so I brought the bike back in.

I still suck, but somehow my teenage son got my bike to shift through gears smoother making for an easier ride and that's more than two bike shops could do with several visits.

I am grateful for a wonderful son.